Antonioni's first films - 35mm. one reelers for theatrical showing - are quite watchable, though they would be forgotten now if the name of the director of his prestige art movies, L'AVENTURA and the rest, wasn't attached.
The earliest of his shorts are the best and, like his others from the period, this one has dramatized scenes. It shows women preparing home magic cures and sinister witch types applying curses. The shot of the viper writhing in the flames will disturb quite a few. Technically ordinary, the film does have the added interest of being an early collaboration with Giovanni Fusco whose sustained brass note begins the track.
